Dangers in our bird cages

 I was visiting with some birds yesterday, when I noticed a couple of things that make me greatly concerned.  I attached photos so you all can see.  Rope perches in this state are extremely dangerous to birds.  Toes (especially ones with long nails) can easily get caught in the frayed rope, resulting in cuts, bruising, fractures or amputation, not to mention the emotional trauma that comes along with such injuries.  Not only can toes get caught, but wings and heads or necks can also get caught in frayed rope, potentially resulting in fractures or even death.  If your bird does this to its rope perches, please only use them when you can supervise the bird.  Other options include constantly clipping back all the frayed pieces, or not giving rope products to your bird at all.  Please be careful, all birds toys can become dangerous under certain conditions, it is up to you to know your bird's behavior and make sure that you remove things if they become dangerous. 

I have trimmed many bird toys in my own cages, and will also remove or modify toys that arrive with any of my boarding clients that seem unsafe to me.  I always explain why certain things concern me to my clients, so that they learn how to keep their birds safe. 

Another thing I spied was this metal water bowl with rust spots in it.  At this point, I would consider this bowl unsafe to use.  It is easy enough to go out and get a new bowl, and if this where to happen to any of my bowls, that is how I would deal with it.  I'm not sure how toxic rusty water is, but I would also be worried about the imperfections in the bowl potentially being places that harbor bacteria.